[ BUSINESS BRIEFS ]

Staff writer, with Agencies

TAIEX lower on growth worries

The TAIEX closed down 0.2 percent yesterday, dragged down by concerns over the domestic economic slowdown after media reports that the government might cut the nation’s economic growth forecast for this year later this month.

The weighted index traded between a high of 7,147.38 and a low of 7,085.38 before closing down 14.23 points at 7,090.04 on turnover of NT$55.94 billion (US$1.87 billion).

A total of 1,186 stocks closed up and 2,474 finished down, while 44 remained unchanged.

Furlough numbers decline

The number of workers on furlough dropped by 43 percent to 610 in the past two weeks, according to statistics released by the Council of Labor Affairs yesterday.

As of Sunday, those workers from 20 companies had reached agreements with their employers to take unpaid leave and are currently on furlough, the statistics showed.

The figure represented a decrease from June 30, when 1,073 workers from 17 companies were on furlough.

It was the first time that the number of furloughed workers had fallen below 1,000 since the council began releasing the figures in October last year.

The figures reached their peak on Dec. 31 of last year, when more than 13,000 workers from over 100 companies agreed to furlough arrangements with their employers, with more than 12,000 on leave at that time.

Luxgen sees promise in Laos

Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車), a subsidiary of the nation’s largest automaker, Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車), yesterday said that its cars have begun to gain recognition in Laos.

Luxgen, which was launched in January 2009, set up a distribution center in the Laotian capital of Vientiane in March this year after expanding into Vietnam in 2010.

Yang Chen-yi (楊鎮奕), Luxgen’s general manager in Laos, said that promoting the brand in the country would take a lot of work because of the dominance of Japanese vehicles in the market, but he said the initial response to the new showroom in Vientiane had been positive.

Liao Yi-chun (廖毅群), Luxgen’s deputy manager in Laos, said the company expected sales to rise considerably in the future because its four-wheel drive models are well-suited to the country’s poor road conditions.

Tech leaders in cloud forum

A number of technology company leaders will meet at a local forum tomorrow to discuss changes in the cloud-computing industry and cloud business opportunities on the global stage.